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Monday, January 20, 2014

Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him." Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."

Nicodemus answered and said to Him, "How can these things be?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."

- John 2:23-3:15

On Saturday, we read that the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and
the money changers doing business. When He had made a whip of cords, He
drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and
poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables. And He said
to those who sold doves, "Take these things away! Do not make My
Father's house a house of merchandise!" Then His disciples remembered
that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up." So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us,
since You do these things?" Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy
this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." Then the Jews said,
"It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise
it up in three days?" But He was speaking of the temple of His body.
Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered
that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the
word which Jesus had said.

Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many
believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. But Jesus
did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need
that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man. My study bible says that "in His divine foreknowledge, Jesus knew many were misreading His signs." It's important that we understand that in the Greek, the word translated here as commit Himself really means to "entrust Himself." Its root is the same word used for faith: pistis/πιστις. The same verb is used for those who believed in His name. There's an interesting implication of reciprocity here, that not only do we put faith in Christ, but He also must place His faith in us.

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that
You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You
do unless God is with him." My study bible says that "Nicodemus believed Jesus was from God. Afraid of being seen with Him by his peers, he came to Jesus by night. Following this conversation with Jesus, Nicodemus disappears from John's Gospel until he seeks to defend Jesus' legal rights before the Sanhedrin. At the end, with Joseph of Arimathea, he prepares and entombs the body of Jesus -- a bold public expression of faith. . . . According to some early sources, Nicodemus was baptized by Peter, and consequently was removed from the Sanhedrin and forced to leave Jerusalem."

Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless
one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to
Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time
into his mother's womb and be born?" In the Greek, to be born again here literally reads to be born "from above" -- meaning a heavenly birth. My study bible says, "Whereas God the Word is born from the Father before all ages, Christians are born from the Son in His human nature within time by Holy Baptism. Being born again, however, is but the beginning of spiritual life. The goal is to see the kingdom of God, a phrase frequently used in the synoptic gospels but found only here in John. Its equivalent in John is 'life' or 'eternal life.'" Nicodemus misunderstands, asking a very pointed question: this is a technique for explanation and revealing a gradual sense of enlightenment that we will see throughout John's Gospel. My study bible terms it beautifully: "the elevation of an idea from its superficial meaning in this age to its spiritual meaning in the Kingdom."

Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." My study bible notes, "Birth from above is of water and the Spirit, a clear reference to Christian baptism. While the workings of the Holy Spirit are mysterious, nevertheless spiritual birth is integrated with baptism here and throughout the New Testament."

"That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of
the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be
born again.' The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of
it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is
everyone who is born of the Spirit." To my mind, Jesus' statement here about spiritual birth from the Spirit is a clear statement about our own natures: that we have a spiritual nature which we must recognize and care for in our lives, which is essential to us, and which also builds our lives, our destinies, our true selves. The statement that begins, "the wind blows where it wishes," is a play on words, a memorable saying. The word "pneuma" in the Greek can mean either "wind" or "Spirit." My study bible says, "The working of the Holy Spirit in the new birth is as mysterious as the source or destination of the blowing wind."

Nicodemus answered and said to Him, "How can these things
be?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel,
and do not know these things? Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak
what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive our
witness. If I have told you earthly things, and you do not believe, how
will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended to
heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is
in heaven." Jesus implies that baptism, this mysterious working of the Spirit and human beings in a new birth, is an "earthly thing" which He's explaining or telling to Nicodemus. St. John Chrysostom interprets "heavenly things" as the mystery of God, specifically the eternal generation of the Son from the Father. My study bible explains, "The new birth is an incomparable spiritual gift, but compared to Christ's eternal birth from the Father, it is earthly."

"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the
Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish
but have eternal life." A note here says, "Moses lifted up a bronze serpent [Numbers 21:9] to cure the Israelites from the deadly bites of poisonous snakes. Christ will be lifted up on the Cross. As the believer beholds the crucified Christ through faith as Savior, the poisonous bite of that old serpent, the devil, and the bite of sin and death, is counteracted and cured. The moment of Christ's greatest humiliation becomes the moment of exaltation for completing His redeeming work. This is the first of many instances in John's Gospel where Jesus teaches that He is the fulfillment of an Old Testament type."

John's Gospel tells us much about meaning and transformation, about rebirth in the Spirit, and also about perception. How do we perceive meanings? How do we know truth, especially spiritual truth? What do we put our faith in, and to whom do we entrust ourselves? These are the questions the text asks us. To be reborn in the Spirit is to take on and enlighten or illuminate spiritual qualities in ourselves, the life of the spirit in us transforming our earthly lives, giving us meanings, values, character -- and of course, this is linked to how we perceive, what faculties we can use for understanding life in its very full sense in which the spiritual plays a role, in which our own spiritual nature is integral to our full sense of ourselves and our lives in this world. In this sense, it is the "earthly thing" Christ tells Nicodemus about. As this rebirth in the Spirit begins our lives with this new start to a new life, so also are other things transformed by this holy reality. Jesus' crucifixion will be a kind of light reflected that brings to mind Moses lifting up the serpent on his staff to save the Israelites from the poisonous serpents that plagued them at their feet. Thus the cross of crucifixion is transformed through Spirit to be seen as the Cross that saves, that redeems. It is this spiritual dimension of life that is so necessary to perception, even to an understanding of who we are ourselves, a light that illumines things we're capable of, that will transform the personalities and acts of all those who are named as followers of Jesus in the Gospels. We could live our lives thinking that the spiritual is some far-off idea that doesn't belong to an earthly life, but Christ clearly doesn't see it that way. Rebirth of the Spirit is an "earthly thing," a way to enhance and enrich our lives, that enlightens us so that we may understand and perceive that which He is bringing into the world, another dimension to the choices we make, and takes on meanings, values, character and capabilities which we perhaps didn't know we had. It is this enhanced life without which one is incapable of "seeing" or "entering" the Kingdom. Over and over again, we will come back to notions of perception. John's Gospel will illustrate those who gradually perceive through an enlightenment that only comes through the spiritual dimension that enhances every facet of worldly life, giving it new depth, a richer text. How does this "wind" of the Spirit blow through your life? What does it give you? How does it change the way you see, and quite possibly, the talents and capabilities you use? Let us remember the goal it points us toward: to see the Kingdom.

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